Bobby Schmid saved more than $7,200 in Iowa State University tuition — and that was before he enrolled there this fall.
Schmid graduated last spring from Papillion-La Vista South High School with more than 20 college credits. He had taken dual-enrollment classes, where students earn high school and college credit at the same time.
High schools increasingly are partnering with local colleges to offer dual-credit classes or even full-blown degree programs.
At least four metro-area districts, for example, are planning programs in which high school seniors graduate with an associate's degree. At Omaha Northwest, students will be able to earn an associate's degree in criminal justice or related fields.
The courses appeal to students and parents because, as in Schmid's case, they usually pay a reduced tuition rate. The course work also might help students prove themselves to top universities or to more quickly earn a post-secondary degree.
Colleges benefit because they receive tuition dollars but don't pay for the instructor — high school teachers with master's degrees typically teach the courses. And the courses are another recruiting tool.
“Some students get enrolled in college classes and think ‘I can do this.' Maybe they hadn't thought of college,” said Connie Eichhorn, a former high school principal who now coordinates secondary programs at Metropolitan Community College.
But not all dual-credit classes transfer to the college a student picks after graduation. Guidance counselors advise asking lots of questions before enrolling.
Twenty public districts and Roncalli Catholic High School, all in Metro's four-county area, have agreements to offer dual enrollment or other for-credit courses. More than 1,100 high school students are enrolled at Metro, up from 870 last fall.
Derek Waskel, a senior at Bellevue East, is learning computer programming — the language that makes computers operate.
The 17-year-old took every computer class offered at the high school and continued this fall with dual-credit courses at Metro, where he learns alongside college students.
“It turned out to be my thing,” he said.
Waskel took some senior-year requirements as a junior to free up his schedule. Now he takes three classes each day at Bellevue East, then spends the afternoon at Metro.
High schools, both public and private, also partner with the University of Nebraska at Omaha, Nebraska Wesleyan, Peru State College and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Advanced Scholars online learning program. Omaha Creighton Prep offers several courses with Creighton University.
Dual-credit courses usually are taught at the high schools by teachers approved as adjunct instructors by the college offering credit. Those teachers submit their course syllabus and other materials to prove that the course is equivalent to the college class.
In Nebraska, students pay reduced-rate tuition and fees. Students earning credit from Metro, for example, pay half price, or $21.50 per credit. Most courses are three or four credits.
The state and most school districts also offer scholarships. In the Omaha Public Schools, most students pay $50 per class, no matter the number of credits, because of grant-funded scholarships.
In Iowa, a 1987 state law allows high school students to earn college credit from a public school at no cost. About 1,500 students from 35 high schools in southwest Iowa earned credit from Iowa Western Community College last fall, said Nicole Franta.
“I have kids graduate with 30 credit hours,” said Franta, coordinator of the college's secondary school programs. “They easily are walking in with sophomore standing.”
Schmid took eight dual-credit courses, including English, calculus and physics. He earned the credits through the national Advanced Placement program, which his district offered with a dual-credit option.
Now the 18-year-old is a freshman majoring in aerospace engineering at Iowa State. Because of his nonresident status, his dual-credit courses saved his family about $7,244.
He bypassed English at Iowa State because of his dual credit. He could have opted out of physics and calculus. But he's taking them because he wants to make sure he has a solid foundation for his major.
High school guidance counselors stress that many colleges won't accept dual credit as a substitute for courses required for a student's major.
Jeanne Hightower is a counselor at Elkhorn High School. She warns students that credits earned through a local college may not transfer to other colleges. Each college sets its own criteria for transfer credits.
“If you think you're going to go in as a sophomore, there's no guarantee,” she tells them.
In Elkhorn, Hightower said, only students who have a 3.0 grade point average or better are allowed to dual-enroll. The courses move faster than the standard high school class, and grades often hinge on a few exams or a paper rather than daily homework and class participation.
Schmid learned through his dual-credit classes that you can't cram for a test that counts for more than 50 percent of your grade.
His mom, Amy, knows the benefits of taking college courses in high school. She enrolled directly in a community college in Norfolk while in high school and encouraged her son and older daughter, Abbie, to sign up for the reduced-rate college courses.
Abbie will study for a semester in Spain and still graduate from the University of Missouri in four years.
“It prepared them for college,” said Abbie's mother. “Truly, if it doesn't even transfer, at least you got a taste of the rigors of a college education.”
Contact the writer:
444-1037, michaela.saunders@owh.com
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